


Acceptance Letters

by pauraque



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Community: hp_goldenage, Epistolary, Gen, Minister for Magic Hermione Granger, Older Characters, Post-Canon, Professor Luna Lovegood, Professor Neville Longbottom, Salt and Pepper Fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22896925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pauraque/pseuds/pauraque
Summary: Being a partial record of correspondence between the offices of Minister Hermione Granger and Headmistress Luna Lovegood, covering matters both personal and political.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Luna Lovegood
Comments: 20
Kudos: 29
Collections: Salt and Pepper Fest 2020





	Acceptance Letters

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta and to the prompter! (Prompt C9: Getting a new job as Headmaster.)

Dear Minister Granger,

Thank you so much for your kind letter. It's been far too long since we've met as we used to do. I fondly remember how you used to invite me to Sunday lunches with Ron and Harry, and how I used to invite you to hunt for Crimson-winged Mudskippers afterward. I suppose neither of us has much free time for such things anymore.

I think I am adjusting to my new position well. Thank you for asking. Of course, it would be impossible for anyone to truly fill Professor McGonagall's shoes. It is difficult not to feel a sense of loss as I now sit on the other side of the desk that was Minerva's. I've put her portrait just across the room, beside the window. It is a lovely thing to look up from my papers and see her watching over me as the summer light filters in and illuminates the stonework.

Among her many other wonderful qualities, Minerva was deftly organized in a way that I don't think I ever can be, even having watched her close-up for so many years. I think I do well with following up on broad goals, but details and repetitive tasks sometimes escape me. I expect to rely on Deputy Headmaster Longbottom for a dose of efficiency. This seems fitting, given all that he contributed and sacrificed for the sake of this school during darker times. I think that, to a greater extent than most people know, it is down to him that Hogwarts as we know it still stands today. Not that he ever would take credit, of course.

In response to your concerns about my recently announced policy changes, I must say I am surprised. I would not have expected you to stand in opposition to sharing the gift of formal education with all those beings and intelligent beasts who wish to attend school.

It was confusing to me even in our own school days that a centaur was considered good enough to be a teacher, but that Professor Firenze's own son or daughter would never have been admitted as a student. Yet nobody ever mentioned it.

Having devoted my career to understanding creatures (both the familiar and the vanishingly rare) and sharing that understanding with the younger generations, I've come to the realisation that many of the most highly-regarded scholars in the field have limited themselves to merely studying creatures, and never bothered actually talking with them, let alone listening to them. While there are many creatures who have no interest in wizarding society, others are understandably resentful that we have excluded them for so long, while presuming ourselves their superiors -- indeed, their rulers -- in magical society. As I've now been entrusted with the responsibility of governing this school to the best of my ability, I see no other choice but to do so in concordance with my best moral senses.

There have been many cases over the years of students attending Hogwarts who could pass as fully human, but in fact were part giant, part goblin, part veela, vampire, or werewolf. This is widely known but (again) not often spoken of. In my view, any dangerous incidents caused by this quiet tradition of bending the rules could likely have been avoided if past headmasters had not been obliged to pretend such students didn't exist, and to provide for their needs only secretly. The coming term's change only brings these students into the light, when they had previously been kept in the shadows.

As to the Board of Governors, I think you will find that the majority already had some idea of my plans before they voted for my instatement, and will not be inclined to vote for my removal now. I will admit, though, that for the dissenting minority, it will be an adjustment.

In the coming term we expect to have two students who are goblins, one who is half goblin, two who are veelas, and one who is a centaur. There is also an interested young woman who is a merperson, but we are uncertain as of yet whether she will be able to enroll this year, as we haven't yet determined the best way for her to attend classes comfortably. I had thought of some sort of aquarium on wheels, but Neville isn't keen on the idea. He thinks holding select classes on the shore of the lake might be less disruptive. I hope we are able to accommodate her. She is terribly clever and has a memory like etched stone, and I think she has much to offer in an academic setting. In fact, she reminds me of you when we were young. I would love for you to meet her.

Please forgive Arikara for any alarm or property damage caused in the course of her delivery of this letter. My efforts to train Occamies as postal birds have been more fruitful than I expected, however I fear that even the tamest of them is still not quite as predictable in behaviour as an owl.

Warmest regards,

Luna Lovegood  
Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Dear Headmistress Lovegood,

Thank you for your reply. I hope it's all right that I sent your Occamy back empty-clawed, and am delivering this letter by my own owl. I'm sure Arikara has a lovely temperament with people she's accustomed to, but I don't believe that I or any of my staff would have been able to get near enough to her to attach mail safely. In future, I would appreciate it if you would send correspondence by more traditional means, as I do try to avoid excessive excitement around the office (though my executive secretary thought it broke up the Wednesday-morning monotony nicely).

As you well know, no one is more concerned about the rights and welfare of creatures than I am. My record speaks for itself on this matter. I'm afraid you've misinterpreted the nature of my concerns. On a personal level, I'm inclined to sympathize with many of your points, but in my position, political considerations must also be taken into account.

The Board of Governors may have approved your instatement (if only by a meagre 7-5 margin) but I fear this result may have been due more to a desire to appear to respect the memory and the wishes of Professor McGonagall than to any actual enthusiasm for your own policies. Professor McGonagall was revered by generations of witches and wizards, and it was well known that you were her chosen successor. But I suspect that as time goes on and the immediacy of memory fades, reverence may give way to more cynical impulses. The members of the Board, after all, cannot keep their own seats without popular support.

There is a broad streak of traditionalism in the wizarding world. People have trouble coping with change that comes too quickly. My office has already received a certain amount of correspondence on your new plan, and the majority are opposed. Many are afraid of slipping down a slope leading to extremes -- dragons rampaging down the halls, trolls smashing desks and chairs -- which I fully understand you have no intention of allowing to happen, but there are people among us who find it difficult to make such fine distinctions.

It may also surprise you to learn that I have heard privately from some former students who (as you alluded to) did attend school despite not being fully human, and who in fact _oppose_ the restrictions being lifted. One individual who we both know quite well expressed the worry that non-human students attending school openly would be left exposed to (equally open) hatred, bigotry, and even violence.

Luna, let me be frank. I honestly feel terrible telling you all this. I know your intentions are good, and I hate to undercut your idealism, which is one of the qualities that makes you who you are. But my greatest concern right now is to keep you _where_ you are -- where you should be, where you want to be, and where Professor McGonagall intended you to be. I think it would be a great loss to all of us if the Board were to remove you over this issue, ending your tenure before it even properly starts.

Let's meet soon. I've missed our lunches too. (I'll admit, I haven't missed hunting for Mudskippers quite as much.)

Yours sincerely,

Hermione Granger  
Minister for Magic

Dear Minister Granger,

I apologize for the tardiness of my reply. We have been very busy making arrangements for our new students. I trust this letter has not disturbed the accustomed monotony of your office environment, as I've sent it with one of our oldest and sleepiest owls.

I appreciate your honesty, and I understand that as Minister it's your role to look at things from a certain angle. I imagine it must be very tiresome to have to do so, at times. It does make me happy that I decided to go into education, and not politics.

A great deal of what you say I am already aware of, so please don't feel that you've taken the wind out of my sails too much. I may still be idealistic, but I would like to think that at my age, I'm not entirely naive!

I suspect I know who shared with you the fear that openly non-human students may be at risk of ill treatment. I understand his feelings and in fact this is something I have discussed candidly with our prospective new students. I would not be surprised if at first there are bullying incidents, and we are preparing our staff to deal with them effectively as soon as they appear.

Though the majority of those who have contacted you may not be in favour, I'm pleased to report that the staff of this school stands behind my policies. Professor Longbottom, in particular, has been invaluable in articulating the need for them to the former naysayers. He is passionate on the topic of justice, and can speak as eloquently as a Roman orator when he's roused. Maybe he could be similarly helpful in persuading the rest of the world.

Of course, the most crucial element will be your support as Minister. I think you may have underestimated the respect and reverence many people have for _you_. With you on our side, I don't see how the Board can stand against us. Maybe the three of us should meet and discuss a strategy for communicating our message. I'm afraid I am no use at public speaking, myself; when I try to say a few words, they tend to come out more along the lines of those that Professor Dumbledore used to grace us with at the Welcoming Feast.

I also have news which I'm sure will please you very much, given your interests. We are in preliminary discussions to add a new course in Wandless Magic to the curriculum the year after next, and we have found an expert teacher in Keesey, a house-elf who has worked loyally at Hogwarts all her life and is eager to share her knowledge. I believe -- and I'm sure you'll agree -- that she and her people have much to contribute, and could potentially revolutionise wizarding education. I look forward to discussing this face to face. What are your plans for this coming Sunday?

Warmest regards,

Luna Lovegood  
Headmistress, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry


End file.
